Bhopal: Death of a prisoner in jail to be considered as unnatural

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The state government has issued an order terming the death taking place in jail/prison as unnatural and announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the nearest kin of the deceased inmate. The government on Thursday issued directives to the director general prisons and correctional services in this connection.

As per the official data, the state jails and prisons see the death of more than 100 inmates every year . In 2018, as many as 144 prisoners died in jails in the state, the figure stood at 158 in 2019. The very next year, 138 jail inmates died and in 2021, the figure went up to 161. Last year, the state jails and prisons reported deaths of 128 inmates.

The government order stated that the decision to take the deaths occurring in the jail/prisons as ‘unnatural’ is based on the order of the Supreme Court, direction of the State Human Rights Commission, and National Human Rights Commission.

The family member of the deceased will be given an amount of Rs 5 lakh as ex-gratia. However, if a prisoner dies while attempting escape from jail, or has escaped or on parole will not be entitled for an ex-gratia amount. 

Six-point criteria

The government has identified six points on which the death are termed as an ‘unnatural death’. These include fight between the jail inmates, death of prisoner because carelessness of the jail staffer, negligence of medical staff, jail inmate committing suicide because of atrocities of jail administration, suicide because of personnel cause and death because of natural calamity or any other accident.